He's a traitor
by internallyscreamingdaily
Summary: Leo, Donnie, and Raph are swept away to a insane, messed-up future world.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own rights to TMNT**

"I'm sorry..." Mikey whimpered as he backed away from his furious older brother.

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" snapped Raphael in reply. "You _dropped_ the canister of mutagen. You're lucky no one was near. If Leo or Donnie were even an _inch_ closer-"

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "It just slipped out of my hands and-"

"Stop making excuses," Raph growled, "Some ninja you are, you only screw up everything."

"Guys!" Leo yelled, relieved for an excuse to break up their fight. "I'm going topside to get the pizza, alright?"

"Actually," said Mikey suddenly,"I'll get it." He raced out of the lair before Raph could object.

Leo and Donatello turned to Raphael with glares etched on their faces.

"What?" snapped Raph.

"He really is trying," growled Leo.

A few minutes later, they had settled back into their usual spots, the argument dismissed from their minds. Raph was on the beanbag chair, trying to read his _Modern Ninja Magazine_ over the sounds of the television. Leo sat in front of the tv, a huge, dorky smile spread across his face as he watched a rerun of _Space Heroes_ for the hundredth time. Donnie had set to tinkering with a mouser, his tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he sat on the couch.

Their activities were interrupted as a loud bang echoed through the room. A circle of light appeared in the air. Donnie jumped out of the circle and into the room, except it wasn't really Donnie. He looked a year or two older, and his mask was faded and threadbare. A deep scar etched his face, narrowly missing his left eye.

Confused, Donatello stared at him as Raph looked from one Donnie to the other.

"We need your help," the older Donnie said.

"Who are you?" Leo asked, hoping more for an explanation than a direct answer to his question.

"I'm Donatello. I'm from the future. We need your help to take a Kraang invasion down. I know it sounds insane and you probably don't believe us, but-"

"-Mess with time?" gasped the younger Donatello. "Do you know how-"

"-I know the risk," said the older, "But right now, we don't have much of a choice."

The present three looked at each other. Leo wasn't sure whether or not he could trust the other Donnie, but he decided to take the chance.

"Okay," he said, "But have your weapons ready."

The four of them stepped into the circle of light.

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When they stepped out again, they were back in the lair, but it was slightly different. The arcade games were gone, replaced by charts, maps, notebooks, and newspaper clippings.

Another Raphael was pacing around the entrance of the dojo when he saw them enter.

"You did it!" he said to Donnie, beaming, just as Donnie closed the door of light with a gadget.

The future Raphael was no different than the present one except for the extra weapons tucked into his belt: a kraang laser, a whip, and something that resembled a taser.

When they had seen the lair, the entire thing had become more believable to Donnie and Raph, who put their weapons away, but Raph stayed tense and alert. He didn't like the looks of the other Raph's bright smile, knowing that it was highly uncharacteristic for him.

"I'll go get Sensei," said the future Raph before bounding off to the dojo.

 _I'll ask the future Donnie why he's so happy,_ thought Raph, _and if he doesn't have a reason..._

"Hey, Donnie," he said.

"Yes?" replied both Donatellos.

"You know, we should call our present selves by our nicknames and our future selves by our full names," suggested Leo. **(that will be important, sorry if its confusing)**

"Okay, _Donatello,_ " said Raph again.

Donatello turned his attention to Raph.

"What's up with sunshine over there?" he asked, gesturing to where Raphael had disappeared.

"Oh," said Donatello, his expression suddenly turning solemn. "I just guess he thought... we always needed an optimist in the family. I guess... he's trying to fill that spot in for-"

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MIKEY?!" Raph roared so suddenly that Donnie and Leo jumped. Donatello only looked at him sadly. Shocked, Raph shook his head in disbelief, walking back, away from Donatello, as if it would help.

"He's not...h-he's not..."

Raph collapsed into a kneeling position on the ground, his eyes wide, shaking his head.

"He's alive," Donatello said, "But he's gone mad. He went insane right after..."

"Yes?" Donnie pressed.

"Right after Leo died," he murmured. "I don't know, he probably blames us for his death. He just... left, and whenever we run into him when we're heading to missions, he attacks us, and he's gotten good, too. Like, Splinter-good. I suppose that the only reason that Raphael and I are still alive is that he could never bring himself to kill anyone."

The stunned silence that followed was only broken when Raphael came bounding back into the room.

"Splinter says that we should start explaining the- guys?"

Raphael worriedly looked around the room before Donatello cleared his throat.

"Yeah- start explaining," he repeated, motioning for them to follow him to his lab.

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"Okay, we have a technodrome emerging here tomorrow," said Donatello, pointing at a dot on his computer screen near the Statue of Liberty with the eraser of his pencil. "Then we have some time where they have to recharge their equipment."

"How long?" asked Leo.

"Twenty-four hours," replied Donatello, "Then we have two more coming here and here," he finished, indicating two more blinking dots with his eraser.

"What's the plan, fearless?" asked Raph and Raphael simeltaneously.


	2. Chapter 2

It was two hours before the technodrome was supposed to arrive. The building was across the bay from the Statue of Liberty. Donatello and Raphael were on a rooftop, looking at the building, and Donnie, Leo, and Raph were on the adjascent one

"Remember the plan, everyone," Leo muttered. "We have to-" but he didn't finish his sentence.

"What is it, Leo?" Donnie asked.

"I thought I saw something," he replied. "Must've been a trick of the light. Let's go."

He, Donnie, and Raph fired their grappling hooks at the building and jumped.

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Raphael sighed as he watched them go down. He hoped they did all right...

"Raphael, did you see that?" Donatello suddenly whispered to him.

"Huh?" he said as he turned his head to look were Donatello was pointing. There was a shadow where the next building was taller than the one that they were on. They watched it and waited. A few seconds passed, then the figure suddenly emerged from the shadow, jumping out at them.

It wore a plain black cloak that went all the way down to its feet. Its hood hid its entire face in shadows. The only visible part of it was its bright blue eyes, which were actually _glowing_ through the shadow of the hood.

It grabbed Raphael, who struggled against it, but it was stronger. It struck him across the head and let him go. Raphael slumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Michelangelo, please," said Donatello, backing up. "We need to stop the technodrome, or the people-"

He jumped out of the way as Michelangelo lunged for him.

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Leo, Donnie, and Raph reached the ground. Leo looked up to give the signal when he saw Donatello fighting a cloaked figure.

"Guys!" he shouted at Raph and Donnie, who were already running towards the building. They turned to look, then-

"AAURGH!"

Leo dropped to the ground, softly groaning. The Kraang who had blasted him along with a few others started to drag his limp form away.

"You help them! I'll get Leo!" shouted Raph, charging the Kraang.

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By the time Donnie reached the roof, Donatello and Raphael were both laying on the concrete of the rooftop, out cold, and the cloaked figure had already gone. He quickly assessed the damage that it had done to them. He figured that they would be fine, but he didn't know how long it would take for them to wake up.

 _What about the plan?_ He thought. _The technodrome?_

He didn't think that they would be coming to by then. The plan was falling apart.

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Raph took out the last Kraangdroid, stabbing its metal skull. He went over to Leo, who was still unconscious, but he didn't seem to have any major injuries. Just then, he got a text from Donnie:

 **They're both down.**

 **So is Leo** , he replied.

 **We can't take out the techodrome on our own. Fall back.**

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Leo opened his eyes with a groan. When he remembered what had happened, gasped and sat up. He was in the living room of the lair. The television was turned on to the news. The reporter was going through the usual depressing stuff, but nothing about the Kraang came up.

Donatello and Raphael were already up.

"What happened?" asked Leo.

"You, Donatello, and Raphael were all knocked out. We had to fall back," replied Donnie, handing Leo a glass of water.

"But- the technodrome!" Leo exclaimed.

"It seems the Kraang ran into some complications," said Donatello. "I think we'd know by now if it was here. Now drink your water. You need it. You've been out for almost a day."

"And the guy in the cloak?" he asked before taking a sip of water.

The other four looked at each other uncomfortably before Raphael spoke up.

"Erm... that was Michelangelo."

Leo choked on his water.

"Let's not get too comfortable about the Kraang's complications," growled Raph, ignoring Leo, who was being forcefully patted on the back by Donnie. "We have two more technodromes coming tonight."

"May I remind you, in two different places, and you three have been weakened. How are we going to pull this off?" asked Donnie apprehensively.

The gentle bump of a cane touching ground told them that Splinter was there. "We need to have Michelangelo fighting with us," he said suddenly.

"But Sensei," said Leo, standing up. "You see what he did to Raphael and Donatello. Something tells me its not going to be easy to get him to fight with us."

"Actually, it might be a lot easier than you think," said Donnie.

"What do you mean?" asked Raphael.

"I mean, think about it, guys. Michelangelo only went mad shortly after Leonardo died. Then he started injuring you just enough so that you couldn't go to your missions, where you could have been hurt a lot worse. Then, somehow, after you ran into him tonight, the Kraang ran into complications."

"What are you saying?" asked Raphael.

"Guys, I don't think he's really trying to _stop_ you." Donnie paused before continuing, his eyes distant in deep thought. "I think he's trying to _protect_ you.


	3. Chapter 3

A stunned silence followed.

 _Protect us?_

Donatello turned to him. "It- it makes perfect sense... I can't believe I hadn't thought of it before."

Leo stepped forward. "Let me talk to him."

"Leo, he's thought you were dead for over a year. If he sees you...I don't know what he'll do. Even if he didn't mean harm to us, seeing you... he could kill you. Leo, you've been weakened," said Donatello.

"I know," said Leo, "But what other choice do we have?"

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Leo jumped in the window of the supposedly abandoned apartment building. There was a subtle light down the corridor of the dusty, cobwebbed room. He slunk down it, making no sound. It opened out into a small room. A single desk stood against the wall, a desk lamp on it. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings on the Kraang, parts highlighted and footnotes in the margins.

It seemed that Michelangelo had arrived only seconds before Leo, as he just now was walking to his desk. He let down his hood and picked up a picture off his desk. Looking closer, Leo realized that it was of the family. Michelangelo looked down sadly at the picture.

 _He missed them. Donnie was right. He was trying to protect them._

Leo looked back to the room behind him. Everyone else had snuck in as planned, just in case something went wrong. If he hadn't been looking for them, he never would have picked them out from the shadows of the room. He turned and stepped into the light of Mikey's desk lamp. He purposely made his last step audible, then, not even half a second later, WHAM! He was on the floor. Michelangelo was on top of him, the blade that he had in his hand firm against Leo's throat.

"Who are you?" he snapped.

"Mikey, it's me," Leo gasped.

Michelangelo stood up, but did not take his distrusting eyes off of Leo. When Leo got to his feet, Michelangelo looked at him for a second before his eyes turned from distrust to something that Donatello and Raphael, who were watching from the shadows, hadn't seen from him in over a year. He looked afraid.

"No-you...you were dead. Y-you're just a hallucination- a figment of my imagination." He stumbled back, clutching his head. "You're not real."

"Mikey," said Leo gently, "I know it sounds crazy, but I'm from the past. I'm real. We need your help to take down the Kraang invasion.

Michelangelo shook his head. "You shouldn't be risking your life like that."

"And you should?"

"It's different."

"How is it different?"

"You guys all have your places on the team!" Michelangelo shouted so suddenly that Leo jumped. "You lead, Donnie uses his tech skills for missions, and Raph is the strong fighter. If the team lost any of you, it wouldn't be able to function properly! I'm just the guy who tags along to help! You guys don't need me, but the world needs you to help them with alien invasions. I need to make sure that you stay an option for them, even if it means risking my own life. Seven billion lives to one, Leo. I'm going to take that risk."

"Mikey, you're so much more to the team than that. You're our optimist. A good team needs one, or who will be there to keep them going when they want to quit? Who will drive them on when they are about to give up? Who will be there when they need it? Who will give them hope when they feel hopeless?"

Michelangelo stared Leo in the eye. "Then how come the team is still going?"

"Because Raphael has pushed himself to become the team's optimist. The spot couldn't be ignored when it was empty."

"Well, that solves the problem, doesn't it, then?!"

"Mikey," said Leo, his voice breaking, "That part came naturally to you. Raphael has become unlike himself to fill in for you." Leo thought he saw a twinge of regret in Michelangelo's eye. "It's not the same. Please. We need the natural optimist on our team. We need you back, little bro."

Leo watched as Michelangelo considered for only a second before shaking his head, trying to clear the thought from his mind.

 _He really does want to come back._

"Mikey, two technodromes are coming through that portal tonight. You don't have a chance of taking them both down, and neither do we. If we don't work together... we could all die."

Michelangelo looked up at this, his eyes moving side to side with thought.

"Of course there's a chance of taking down both," he snapped.

"See? See?" exclaimed Leo suddenly. "That's the Mikey I know!" Come on, if we work together, we can save everyone!"

Michelangelo thought for a moment, nodded, and smiled. "What's the plan?"


	4. Chapter 4

Donatello, Michelangelo, and Splinter went to TCRI, while Raph, Leo, Raphael, and Donnie went to the Worldwide Genome Project bawkwardly

Mikey sat in his usual spot in he shellraiser. It felt odd being there again, just as he had in the past.

"Here we are, TCRI," announced Donatello as he stopped the shellraiser. Michelangelo stood beside Splinter to discuss the plan that Leo had given them one last time.

They would sneak in, then Donatello would disable the shield while Splinter and Michelangelo provided a distraction. Much the same would be happening with the other team.

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"Where are all the guards?" Raph whispered as they slunk down the hallways unnoticed.

"They must be watching the portal," answered Donnie.

The first Kraang that they saw were sentries outside of the door that the portal was in. They took the two out within seconds and used the metal skull of the Kraang to scan into the room. They snuck in behind some equipment.

There were only a few Kraang surrounding a complex machine which must have been a different kind of portal than what Leo, Donnie, and Raph had seen before. They drew their weapons and waited for Leo to survey the room before they did anything. Raphael looked too, and his eyes widened in realization at the last second.

"Wait! Guys! Don't! It's-" he hissed, but it was too late. Leo had already given the signal.

When they jumped into view, instead of firing at them, the Kraang ran to an exit at the back of the room, then both exits sealed, leaving them trapped inside.

"That's no portal," said Raphael. "It's the same type of bomb that killed Leonardo.

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The portal was heavily guarded. Donatello felt himself growing slightly dizzy from the small amount of oxygen his filtration unit provided. The Kraang had tampered with the ventilation system so it let in a lot of the elements that they could breathe.

They were hiding in the vent, looking down at the Kraang patrolling the ground below.

"Traag," whispered Michelangelo, staring at the monster guarding the portal.

"Are you ready, my sons?" asked Splinter. Michelangelo and Donnie nodded.

Splinter and Michelangelo jumped down to provide the distraction.

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 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

The bomb started to count down.

"Raphael, what do we do?" asked Leo.

Raphael shook his head.

Donnie took a pannel off the bomb.

"Uh-oh."

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

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All of the Kraang were down now, but Traag was proving to be more of a challenge.

"Donatello?" Michelangelo shouted, narrowly dodging a blow from Traag.

"Almost there!" he shouted back irritably. "Aaaaand... done!"

The shield around the portal warbled and went down.

"Now get the explosives on!"

They ducked, dodged, and jumped to avoid Traag's fists, but he wouldn't let them an inch nearer.

Getting angry with them, Traag threw a powerful punch, which hit Michelangelo. He yelped and was thrown onto the ground.

"MIKEY!"

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Donnie looked at the timer on the Kraang bomb. It didn't have any recognizable numbers, but by the pattern in which it moved, he estimated that they had thirty seconds left.

He cut two wires and fit another into a bare circut.

Twenty-two. Twenty-one. Twenty.

He wiped beads of sweat off his forehead as he thought feverishly, his heart pounding in his head.

Sixteen. Fifteen. Fourteen.

His violently trembling fingers fumbled clumsily with a wire.

Seven. Six. Five.

He let out a panicked whimper as he tried to pick out another. He joined the two wires together.

Three. Two. One. Zero.

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Traag had them cornered between a pannel and a wall. He towered feet above them. He could easily catch them if they tried to jump over him.

Donatello was backing up. He had his staff in one arm and was supporting Michelangelo with the other. Michelangelo weakly looked up at the pannel.

 _The ventilation system. It controls the ventilation system. Could we have a more useless pannel in this situation to- wait._

"Donatello?" he croaked softly. "What does fire need to burn?"

"Fuel, oxygen, and heat," he replied.

Michelangelo looked back at the pannel. If he took all the oxygen out of the room, he thought that the hot-burning lava inside of Traag would last longer than them, even with their filtration units in.

"I hope this works," he pleaded before tampering with the ventilation system so that it only let oxygen in.

"What are you doing?!" shouted Donatello. "I said fire needs oxygen to survive! That will just make his lava hotter!"

"That's the idea," said Michelangelo, taking the filtration unit out of his mouth.

Traag closed in further on them.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. CRACK!

He stumbled as a fracture formed in his stone leg. He looked down at himself just as more of his rock skeleton split.

His stone was growing red-hot. He roared and took another angry step towards them, then collapsed, narrowly missing a shocked Donatello. His entire body started to melt onto the floor in a puddle of lava.

"Jump!" shouted Splinter before leaping onto a higher ledge. Donatello followed, then pulled Michelangelo up after him.

They watched as the lava puddle slowly spread throughout the room, coating the entire floor. The portal started to sink, melting into the hot liquid. It disappeared below the surface, giving the lava an odd color.

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Donnie had his eyes closed, ready for the explosion. Nothing. He opened one eye. He was still there. The others were still there. The bomb was still there. The building was still there. He had defused the bomb.

Raphael gave him a pat on the back. "Nice job, Don."

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"Hey, guys, where have you been?" asked Leonardo when he saw Donatello sitting Michelangelo on the couch in the lair, ready to check him for any serious injuries.

"What do you mean?" asked Splinter. "We split up to go to TCRI."

"What?" asked Leonardo. "When was this?"

Just then, Leo's team walked into the lair. When they saw Leonardo, they looked confusedly from him to Leo.

"Wait. What happened at the Worldwide Genome Project?" asked Donatello.

"It wasn't a portal, it was a bomb," said Raphael.

"The same kind that killed Leonardo?"

"Yeah..." responded Raphael, confused.

Donatello turned to Donnie. "You defused it?"

Donnie nodded, just as confused as Raphael.

What do you think, Donatello?" asked Leo.

"Well, since Donnie has experience with that kind of bomb now, I think he can defuse the next one before it kills Leo," said Donatello.

"Well," said Raph, pounding Leo on the back. "I'm glad you didn't die, bro."

"Er- thanks," he said, his tone halfway between genuine and sarcastic; he didn't really know how he felt about that. But he looked back at Raphael, who had a real, caring smile on his face. He really meant it.

"Mikey, are you okay?" asked Leonardo, still confused, to his little brother, who was hugging him, shaking.

There was a blinding flash of light, and Leo, Donnie, and Raph found themselves back where they had begun.

"Wait, what?" asked Leo, looking around at the arcade games, which were back in their places.

"Wait," said Raphael, "So, if Leo never died-"

"-Then Mikey never turned-" continued Leo.

"- which means that the entire thing never happened," Donnie finished.

There was a disbelieving silence as they tried to process it all.

"Ah! This is going to give me a headache," groaned Raphael.

They heard footsteps approaching, and they turned to see Mikey looking at them.

"Dudes! Where have you been? The pizza's getting cold!"

Raphael stared at Mikey as the realization hit him. He had given up being with the family, his home, everything he loved, for them. He never wanted Mikey to do that again. He had his place on the team. Raph couldn't help but appreciate that.

"Guys?" Mikey said, becoming a bit concerned.

Raph bit his lip, tears welling up in his eyes. He suddenly pulled Mikey into a hug. Shocked, Mikey looked over Raph's shoulder at Leo and Donnie, both of whom only shrugged and smiled, leaving him to pat Raph awkwardly on the back.

"I'm sorry," said Raph. "I never should've yelled at you. You're very special to us, you know that, right?"

Mikey only nodded, becoming a little creeped out.

"Er- you said something about pizza?" asked Donnie, trying to break the awkward silence. "Let's go."

Donnie and Raph walked to the kitchen.

"I was gone for ten minutes. What did I miss?" Mikey asked.

"I guess it felt longer to him," said Leo before starting for the kitchen, too, leaving a very confused Mikey to follow.


End file.
